Chapter Four

Disclaimer: "A vague disclaimer is nobody's friend." (--Willow Rosenberg. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 4: Episode Seven: The Initiative.) But this is going to be vague. I own nothing and Joss owns everything.

Angel wrinkled his eyebrows in frustration as he stared at the computer screen in front of him. For the past half hour he had been searching to see if Ethan Rayne was in any motels, hotels, or anything. But he kept getting nothing.

As far as Angel knew about spells like the one Ethan must have performed, they had to be performed locally. Locally meaning that Ethan would have to be in Los Angeles somewhere for his spell to get to the jail at his desired subject, Faith.

The real question remained though. Once they found Ethan, how could they get him to reverse the effects and make sure he would not be back in Sunnydale again? He liked to do things like these, especially as it drew nearer to the Hellmouth's middle of spring apocalypse party.

"I got nothing!" he said in anger as he pushed away from his desk. "Nothing at all on the whereabouts of one Ethan Rayne."

"That's 'cause you're not looking in the right places," Gunn pointed out with a smile as he walked into Angel's office.

"And where should I be looking?" he asked, looking up at his African American colleague.

"Demon bars," Gunn replied plainly. "Something as big as this goes down and there's no talk? That ain't right and you know it."

"So you suggest going to these bars?" Angel asked. "Us?"

Gunn shrugged. "I'll go alone," he offered. "First Caritas, then maybe this bar at the other end of Norton, Sammie's I think it's called."

Angel nodded. "Alright, that will help," he said honestly.

"Not a problem," Gunn pointed out with a smile as he walked out of the office. "I'm out and don't know when I'll be back."

Angel nodded again as he went back to his computer. "There has to be something," he muttered as he began clicking on another hotel. As he scanned the webpage, a smile crept onto his face. "Ha, we're getting better business than these guys," he said with a laugh.

"Now surely there's some other game you two could play rather than Superhero," Cordelia began nervously as she glanced helplessly up at Willow and the shorter blond next to the redheaded witch.

"But we're not playing Superhero," Buffy pointed out clearly.

Faith nodded. "Yea, I'm the big villain. And I'm gonna kill Super Buffy," she said, determination filling up in her voice.

"Not if Power Barbie kills you first!" Buffy screeched.

Faith shook her youthful brunette head. "Sidekicks don't get to kill people. That's not how it works."

"It's not?" Willow asked curiously. "I've dusted vamps before," she muttered as Tara gave her a small smile. "And I've killed demons," she added to herself.

"But Power Barbie is more than a sidekick," Buffy argued back. "She can fly and she's going to kick your butt!"

"I don't think so," Faith said as she planted her arms firmly on her hips. "I'll kill you, and your little doll too," she said before giving an evil laugh.

"CHEATER!" Buffy accused strongly, pointing fingers at Faith. "Miss Tara, she's cheating!"

"I AM NOT CHEATING!" Faith hollered back as she glared at Buffy. "If anything, she's cheating. She has a sidekick, but I don't have a partner."

"You don't need a partner. You're the bad guy," Buffy said as she narrowed her eyebrows at the girl in front of her.

Cordelia sighed heavily as she watched the two of them. "Some things never change," she muttered as she walked back over to Wesley. "What are we going to do?" she asked.

Giles frowned as he gathered the remaining Scoobies together in front of the cash register by Anya's demand. "It looks good for business," she pointed out. "I'm helping you all meaning I can help anyone which would make them more willing to come inside."

Willow rolled her eyes before giving her full attention to Giles. "So now what?" she asked curiously.

"That's exactly what we don't know. We have had no luck tracking Ethan. Sunnydale Motor Inn claimed he left days ago."

"He's learned to do the damage and get out," Willow noted.

Giles nodded. "It looks that way."

"And we still have no reversal spell?" Cordelia asked innocently as she glanced over at the rising fight between the two young Slayers.

Giles nodded. "I'm afraid you're right," he told Cordelia.

"What are we going to do about them?" Anya asked. "If they keep this up, one of them is sure to kill the other."

Giles frowned. "I'm not sure what we should do about them."

"We could let them fight until they knock each other out cold," Anya suggested as everyone glanced at her as if she were insane. She was used to the look. It was the look Willow, Tara, Buffy, and Giles would give her when she made references to her nightly adventures with Xander. "Or we could do something else," she added.

"But what?" Wesley asked. "We have to watch the two of them, find a reversal spell, and find Ethan."

"And run the store," Anya put in. "Don't forget running the store."

"Of course," Giles said as he patted Anya's back.

Tara looked over at the still fighting Slayers. "Well, I could take them to the park o-or something," she suggested. "Let them blow off steam."

"By yourself?" Cordelia asked as she raised an eyebrow at Tara.

"Absolutely not," Wesley declared. "Cordelia will go as well."

"Woah, woah, woah," Cordelia exclaimed. "So not what I meant!"

Willow glared at the former cheerleader in front of her. "Cordy, it's not that we're trying to get rid of you, but Wesley and Giles are best at research, I'm best at tracking people, Anya's best at running the store," she pointed out as Anya beamed proudly at the mention of her name. "Besides," she added. "Buffy seems to like Tara the most while Faith prefers you."

"Actually Buffy likes Xander best," Anya pointed out. "Can't say I blame her," she added silently to herself.

"Anya, main point, please!" Willow scolded. She looked up at Giles. "Do you think that would work?"

Giles nodded, considering what Willow had mentioned. "I think it's pretty much our only option. Wesley and I will look for that spell," he said as the two former Watchers sat down at the table.

"I'll find Ethan," Willow promised as she grabbed a book of locator spells and began searching for the best one to use. If Ethan had gotten as smart as they might think, he might already be outside of California.

"We'll watch the Slayers," Tara added with a smile as she walked over. "Hey Super Buffy," she called. "Do you want to go to the park again?" she asked curiously.

"No, only my big brother can take me there!" Buffy pointed out strongly. "And you're a girl," she added.

"I never got to go to a park," Faith whined as she walked over to Cordelia. "Take me there!" she demanded as she looked up at Cordelia with begging eyes.

"Ok," Cordelia said as she grabbed her purse and took Faith's hand. "Let's go," she added before glaring at Willow for getting her stuck in this mess.

"YAY!" Faith screamed happily as she eagerly followed Cordelia out of the Magic Box.

Tara smiled as she knelt down to face Buffy on her left knee, placing her right hand on Buffy's left shoulder. "And where do you want to go?" she asked curiously.

Buffy smiled, pondering the question for a second. "Um, I wanna go to Disneyland!" she announced.

"Anywhere else?" Tara asked curiously, knowing that the trip to Disney alone would be bad enough. Plus, Faith would throw a fit when she found out that she did not get to go. And there was the small issue of money, as in they could not afford to take Buffy down there, especially after buying her nearly two hundred dollars worth of toys.

Buffy frowned, once again considering her options. "I wanna get ice cream," she declared a moment later. "Yummy chocolate ice cream in a cone with gummy bears and sprinkles on top."

Tara smiled. "Ok, you want to go now?" she asked.

"Before lunch?" Buffy asked curiously. "COOL!" she exclaimed as she excitedly ran to the door. "Come on, slow poke!" she begged.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Tara said as she grabbed her purse and followed Buffy. As soon as she neared the door, Buffy began dragging Tara down Main Street in desperate search of the best ice cream place.

Willow breathed a huge sigh of relief once they had left. "Now for peace and quiet to do research," she noted as she began flipping through the spell book.

"Lorne, my man," Gunn announced as he walked into Caritas. "You gotta help us out here."

"You know I don't do the fighting and violence very well," Lorne began nervously as he continued stirring drinks.

Gunn chuckled as he pulled himself a seat at the bar. "Nothing like that. We just need to know if you've heard anything."

"We?" Lorne asked curiously as he looked around the empty bar. Empty, of course, expect for him and Gunn.

"Angel needs to know too, but it's kinda sunny and he couldn't make it."

Lorne smiled slightly. "What is it?" he asked.

"A man. Causes trouble and goes by the name of Ethan Rayne. Heard of him?"

Lorne looked up a moment as he tried to remember. "There was talk of him here the other night," he began. "My memory's a little fuzzy right now."

"Please try and remember," Gunn began.

Lorne nodded. "I didn't hear most of the conversation. I was out with the crowd most of that night.." The green skinned demon paused for a moment noting the look on Gunn's face. The look that plainly said he didn't care what Lorne was doing. He just cared about what Lorne knew regarding this Ethan character. "Right," Lorne said before continuing. "This demon said he heard about this guy who got rid of the Slayer problem. He was going to take a group of demons down to the Hellmouth to celebrate. That's all I know, I swear."

Gunn nodded. "That's cool. But what day was this?" he asked.

Lorne bit his upper lip as he thought. "Late Sunday night, possibly Monday morning," Lorne clarified. "Sea breeze?" he offered, holding up the glass he had been mixing.

Hours had passed and neither of the Slayers had returned. Xander had called in and said he would be there soon, right after he finished up a little work on the site. But Giles still had no luck on finding a good reversal spell. "Any luck?" Giles asked as he looked over at Willow and Wesley.

The younger former Watcher looked up at Giles. "Not really. I found a spell that could reverse it, but we would need a lot of things. It's a pretty intense spell and it would require something that ha belonged to the person who casted it."

"Any luck on finding Ethan?" Giles asked as he turned to face Willow.

Willow nodded as she studied the map in front of her. "According to the four spells I did so far, Ethan is in Sunnydale. He was in LA, according to Angel, but he left and is apparently back here somewhere."

"And he's staying with a bunch of demons," Cordelia announced as she walked into the Magic Box, the still energetic Faith rushing in ahead of her.

Anya gasped as she looked over at Cordelia. "You look horrible," she commented, and it was true. Dirt covered almost all parts of her clothes. Her once perfect hair was going in a hundred different directions. A small but deep cut was easily visible on her left cheek.

"What happened?" Wesley asked, deeply sounding concerned as he walked over to Cordelia, one hand going around her body for support.

"Demons," Cordelia said exhaustedly.

"Here, sit down," Giles began as he stood up from his chair and moved it back, giving Wesley enough room to guide Cordelia down. "Demons attacked you at the park?" he asked curiously. "I didn't figure them for showing themselves in broad daylight."

"Ethan's demons," Cordelia said to modify her previous statement. "They wanted Faith. Obviously, they didn't get her."

"You sure they were with Ethan?" Giles asked curiously as Wesley began tending to Cordelia.

Cordelia nodded wildly. "Ethan was with them. They didn't even attack me until I realized who they were working for."

"Oh," Wesley noted as he applied a fresh bandage to Cordelia's cheek. "Well, we're all glad you're alright."

Cordelia nodded. "He said he wanted Buffy. And there would be more demons to come. And with the magicks that man has, he'd probably find this store soon enough."

"Giles, we cannot allow that to happen!" Anya shouted.

"Don't worry, Anya, the money will be fine," Giles assured her in an absent minded tone of voice. He stood up and headed over for the door. "Cordelia, where were you when you were attacked?" he asked.

"On the way home from the park," Cordelia recalled. "Right outside Shady Hill," she added. "That might be where they're all staying. It looked big and empty enough."

"Where are you going?" Wesley asked as he looked over at Giles.

"To find an old friend," Giles said as he headed out of the shop. "Before he finds my little girl."

Twenty minutes had passed. Xander, Tara, and Buffy had all returned to the Magic Box safe and sound. Chocolate still covered a good chunk of the blond Slayer's mouth and it was obviously useless truing to remove it. Willow was still no closer to finding exactly where Ethan was, but Tara had been helping her ever since she had returned.

"Still nothing," Willow said with a frown as she slammed the fifth spell book shut. "They all say the exact same thing. Ethan Rayne is in Sunnydale, but where in Sunnydale is undetermined."

"Well, there is that one spell we could try," Tara suggested. "The one we tried when"

Willow nodded. "Do you think it'll work this time?" she asked curiously.

Tara nodded. "Positive," she said with a slight smile. "It'll work."

"But will it hurt the carpet?" Anya asked nervously. "Or anything else in here?"

Tara shook her head. "No, it won't. I promise."

"Then carry on already!" the ex-demon commanded as she began counting the total sales they had made that day.

The two witches nodded as they began gathering supplies from around the Magic Box. "We're not stealing," Willow quickly said, recalling the last time they had grabbed supplies from around the store without Giles's presence.

"I know," Anya said dryly without looking up. "I'll charge it out of Giles's paycheck or something."

Willow sighed, rolling her eyes as she and Tara finished gathering the materials. Once they were all gathered, the two began organizing things out on the research table. "Alright, Cordy and Xander, do you think you can watch the Slayers in the back while we do this?" Willow asked.

"He's not going back there alone with her!" Anya demanded.

"Nothing's going to happen," Xander assured his girlfriend. "There is nothing between me and Cordelia."

"Right," Cordelia agreed. "I have An--I mean, I'm not interested in Xander anymore. He's yours and I respect that," Cordelia began as she dragged Faith to the training room, Xander and Buffy right behind her.

"Cordelia?" Xander began once the four of them were settled in the back room and the door was closed. "Can I ask you something?" he asked curiously.

"Xander, when I said I wasn't interested in you, I meant it," Xander's ex girlfriend pointed out.

Xander nodded. "I know. I don't feel that way about you either. I am totally in love with Anya."

"So what is it you wanted to ask me?" Cordelia asked.

Xander sighed heavily as he pulled out something he had ripped out from the Zales catalog. He had been extremely careful to make sure that no one else had ever seen him looking through it. It had been close when Willow saw him, but he had quickly covered it up and he hoped that the witch did not suspect anything.

Xander began nervously unfolding the piece of paper before he handed it to Cordelia and pointed to the ring on the top left. "What do you think?" he asked.

"Well," Cordelia began, eyeing it enviously. "It's very gorgeousÉThe perfect engagement--Oh my god you're going to propose!" she exclaimed.

"SHH!" Xander quickly said as he covered Cordelia's mouth with his hand. "I don't want anyone to know yet. Not with this four year old situation and the Glory thing. There's just too much going on." He stopped, bringing himself together. "So you think she'll like it?" he asked curiously.

"Xander," Cordelia began honestly, "I would be willing to marry you if you gave me that," she pointed out with a small smile.

"So that's a 'yes'?" Xander asked.

Cordelia nodded. "She'll love it."

"This spell doesn't make any sense," Willow began as she studied the map of Sunnydale in front of her and Tara. Any person who had access to the darker arts was red. They had specifically altered the spell slightly so that Ethan would be a slight shade darker than the others.

"It doesn't?" Anya asked. "So you wasted all the store's basil for nothing?"

Tara shook her head. "No, we know where Ethan is."

"You do?" Wesley asked. "Where?"

Willow frowned. "That's where it doesn't make sense." She swallowed hard before continuing. "Ethan's here," she noted.

"Yes," Giles announced exhaustedly as he dragged the unconscious body of Ethan Rayne inside the Magic Box.